Marketing Conversation Starters

Insights abounded at the Direct Marketing News 2014 Marketing&Tech Partnership Summit earlier this week. Here, 20 opinions, observations, and recommendations from the Summit's speakers that will get you thinking about how to approach marketing in 2014 and beyond.

“The interplay of mobile with other channels is where the opportunities lie for customer engagement. Mobile with TV is twice as effective as TV alone.” –Bonin Bough, VP of global media and consumer engagement, Mondelēz International

“Everyone is the technology business, and if you're not acting that way, you're not set up to succeed.” –Aaron Shapiro, CEO, HUGE Inc.

“The emphasis should be 20% on technology, 30% on process, and 50% on people to succeed with any marketing-technology initiative.” –Barton Goldenberg, president and founder, ISM Inc.

“You have to get email right the first time. It's often the first impression customers have of a company's communications, so it sets customers' expectations of future communications.” –Greg Grdodian, CEO, Reach Marketing

“If you don't have original content on your site, our SEO will be limited.” –Adam Reinebach, EVP of marketing solutions at Source Media

“The four key use cases for customer data are attribution, insight, optimization, and targeting—and they all required a different approach.” Bruce Biegel, senior managing partner, Winterberry Group

“The biggest offense marketers make is not to treat customers and prospects differently.” –Katrina Conn, VP of marketing services, StrongView

“People ask how we were able to react so quickly with the Oreo tweet, ‘You can still dunk in the dark.' The 100 days of the Oreo Daily Twist developed the muscle memory we needed to react in real time.” –Bonin Bough, VP of global media and consumer engagement, Mondelēz International

“Technology strategy is often the biggest inhibitor of organizational success. Marketers should approach their technology with a Web ethos that allows for iteration, [not a CapEx approach].” –Aaron Shapiro, CEO, HUGE Inc.

“It's great to have data, but what does it mean? What story does it tell? It's that insight that's valuable.” –Tamara Gruzbarg, senior director of analytics and research, Gilt Groupe

“Marketers should think of themselves as anthropologists when using data to [better understand customers].” –Todd Cullen, chief data officer, OgilvyOne

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